from Asad Zaman Cold: we let our emotions influence our behavior. Callous: concern for others causes us to share our good fortune with others, instead of keeping everything for ourselves. Cruel: We feel pain for the suffering of others, and sorrow for the extinction of species, or destruction of their habitat, instead of joy at the resulting profits. Calculating: We are not concerned with maximizing our monetary gains, down to the last penny. The paper “The Empirical Evidence Against...

AAR: March Rail Carloads and Intermodal Decreased Year-over-year by Calculated Risk on 4/07/2023 03:25:00 PM From the Association of American Railroads (AAR) Rail Time Indicators. Graphs and excerpts reprinted with permission by AAR to Bill McBride. Rail volumes today are being negatively influenced by broader economic trends, including slowdowns in industrial output, high inventory levels at many retailers, lower port activity, and...

Asia TimesXi topping Biden in New Cold War’s economic gameWilliam Pesek Asia TimesMacron has no interest in ‘decoupling’ from ChinaScott FosterBreaking DefenseUS tech firms should wargame response if China invades Taiwan, warns NSA cybersecurity chief Sydney J. Freedberg Jr.

Scenes from the March employment report 2: unemployment recession indicators  – by New Deal democrat A reminder: I may be offline for the next couple of days. In the meantime, yesterday I looked at the 5 leading indicators contained in the employment report, and summarized how they either signal recession now or within the next 3 to 6 months. Today I want to focus on unemployment and underemployment. Economist Gloria Sahm’s Rule, namely...

I have been tied up courtesy of a major power failure, Easter, and other family obligations. Over the weekend, there was a blow up on Twitter between Richard J. Murphy and what appeared to be dozens of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT) proponents. (I ignore any Twitter thread involving lots of people and lasts more than a day, so I cannot fill in more details.) The dispute was about the role of taxes (although it devolved into whining about attitudes). Since many of my readers will have found me...

Map of US states.Real Progressives (MMT based)Race to the Bottom

What is the use of school? We live in an unequal society where inequality is increasing in many areas, especially regarding income and wealth. The differences in living conditions for different groups, in terms of class, ethnicity, and gender, are unacceptably large. In the world of education, family background still has a significant impact on pupils’ performance, and it becomes even more pronounced as they get older. It cannot be seen as anything other...

Guido Lorenzoni and Ivan Werning. Inflation is Conflict. Bob Rowthorn is referenced, as he should be. Frederick Guy and Peter Skott. 2005. Power-Biased Technical Change and the Rise in Earnings Inequality. The references on twitter must be to something more recent. Seth Ackerman interview with James Forder, about the myths economists believe about the Philipps curve and 1970s stagflation. Cybersocialist planning. This Jacobin article talks about Ian Wright's work among others....

Editorial by Ten Bears at Homeless on the High Desert. Ten Bears is reviewing the politics or the changing of the rules in Montana for the 2024 Senatorial Election. And changing the rules only for 2024. Sounds almost like Wisconsin plans to impeach a newly elect Supreme Cour Justice. They Can Only “Win” by Cheating . . . , Homeless on the High Desert, Ten Bears, g’da says . . . Daily Chaos: Republicans in the Montana state Senate on Tuesday...